The Walt Disney Company and its ABC network have filed a lawsuit against the Federal Communications Commission, accusing the agency of waging a “retaliatory campaign” against the network because the Trump administration disapproves of its broadcasts .
In a complaint filed Tuesday in federal court in Washington, D.C., Disney and ABC asked the court to block an unprecedented early review of broadcast licenses for eight ABC-owned stations. The lawsuit argues the FCC action is an unconstitutional violation of the network’s First Amendment rights .
“Acting through the Federal Communications Commission, the Administration has waged a retaliatory campaign against ABC for a single reason: it disapproves of what ABC broadcasts,” the lawsuit states. “That campaign began in this Administration’s earliest days and has only intensified since” .
The FCC, led by Chairman Brendan Carr, a Trump ally, ordered the accelerated review of the eight ABC station licenses in April, even though the licenses were not scheduled for renewal until between 2028 and 2031 . The order came shortly after President Trump called for ABC to fire late-night host Jimmy Kimmel over a joke about first lady Melania Trump that had angered conservatives .
The lawsuit cites Trump’s social media posts, including one from December 2025 where he wrote: “If network NEWSCASTS, and their Late Night Shows, are 100% negative to President Donald J. Trump, MAGA, and the Republican Party, shouldn’t their valuable Broadcast Licenses be terminated? I say, YES!”
Disney described the early renewal process as an “existential threat,” noting that broadcast license renewals are almost never revoked and the FCC had not issued an early-renewal order in decades . The agency gave ABC only 30 days to file applications that normally take months to prepare .
The FCC has also been investigating whether ABC’s daytime talk show “The View,” whose hosts and guests are often critical of Trump, should be subject to equal-time rules for political candidates . ABC argues the agency itself decided in 2002 that the program is a legitimate news show exempt from the rule .
In defending the agency’s actions, Carr told CNBC last month: “If broadcasters don’t like that, that’s OK. They can become a cable channel, they can become a podcast, they can stream online. But if you want to uniquely be on the public’s airwaves, you have to comply with those obligations” .
The lawsuit warns that the administration’s campaign against ABC threatens the entire media industry. “The campaign is also calculated to operate in terrorem upon the rest of the industry: ABC is the visible target and suffers the most immediate harm, but the message is addressed to every broadcaster in the country,” the suit states .
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, the sole Democrat on the commission, praised the lawsuit, saying: “For months, the FCC has waged a campaign of censorship and control against Disney’s ABC stations, using the threat of broadcast license revocations to punish a company for speech this administration doesn’t like” .
Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro said the company is fighting for its rights. “We’re going to stand up to what we believe is journalistic integrity,” D’Amaro told CNBC. “And we’re not going to be told how to run that side of our business” .
The lawsuit seeks a temporary restraining order and a speedy hearing to stop the FCC’s early renewal proceedings. The FCC has not yet commented on the lawsuit.
